Hardness tester



Dec. 20, 1949 c, KENT 2,491,667

HARDNESS TESTER Filed Nov. 15, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mwmmm CARLETON v KENT lwfld l #nwRMEy Dec. 20, 1949 v, KENT 2,491,65?

HARDNES S TES TER Filed NOV. 15, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

CARLETON V. KENT 22 Alum ,4 TroR/usy Patented Dec. 20, 1949 HARDNESS TESTER Carleton V. Kent, Perkasie, Pa, assignor to American Machine and Metals, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application November 15, 1945, Serial No. 628,795

Claims.

This invention appertains to the art of determining the hardness of a specimen by measuring some dimension of an indentation produced in that specimen by an indenting tool. The invention relates to'a new method of determining hardness based on this principle and to apparatus particularly adapted to carry out this method.

The hardness number of a specimen is the magnitude of the chosen dimension of the indentation which is produced by a predetermined test load applied to the indenter. This dimension may be of the diameter of the imprint left by a small steel ball (Brinell system), a diagonal of the impression of an axially symmetrical foursided pyramid (Vickers system), the long diagonal of the impression of a pyramid having a diamond-shaped base (Knoop system) the length of a lenticular-shaped impression of a double coaxial-cone indenter (Kent system) as is described in my copending application, Serial No. 579,857, filed February 26, 1945 and now Patent No. 2,436,435, or the depth of the indentation left by a ball or a cone (Rockwell system).

The invention herein described is particularly well adapted for use with the Vickers and Kent systems.

a device which permits conveniently carrying out the method, which will permit making hardness tests of great accuracy with greater ease and more speedily than has been heretofore pos? sible.

In determining the hardness of a specimen by measuring some dimension or dimensions of the indentation produced by hte indenting tool, the common practice has been to view the indentation through a measuring microscope. A detached microscope is used at times, but more generally the microscope is attached to the hardness tester. In either case it is necessary to move either the indenting tool or the specimen relative to the microscope so that the specimen will be in position under the indenter for making the indentation and under the microscope for reading the dimensions. Generally, refocussing of the microscope-becomes necessary for each observation. In most cases it is necessary to read the position of each end of the indentation separately on a scale in the eye-piece of the microscope and then to calculate the desired quantity from the two'observations. Since this procedure is rather time-consuming and attended by serious eye-strain, it hasbeen proposed to substitute a projectionsystem which casts a The general object of the invention is to provide a method of testing hardness and magnified image of the indentation produced upon a ground glass screen. This requires: moving the indenter out of the way, generally by a vertical movement of the indenter followed by a lateral movement.

. It is an object of this invention to provide a method of testing hardness which permits observing the chosen dimension of the specimen while the specimen remains in the testing machine without using a microscope and without any movement of the indenter other than its axial movement during the indenting of the specimen. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a hardness testing method which permits reading the chosen dimensions while the indenting tool rests in the specimen. To accomplish this purpose, my method provides illuminating the indentation by a light beam directed upon the indented surface at an acute angle so that the chosen dimension can be observed by an observer looking in the direction of the reflected light beam at the shadow cast. When thus observed the contrasts between the light and the dark areas are sharpest, permitting accurate observations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hardness testing method wherein an enlarged image of the indentation is projected onto an observation plane by taking advantage of the increased reflecting power of any material. when the angle of incidence of the light beam upon the reflecting surface is sufficiently small. Below a certain angle of incidence even surfaces which are ordinarily not regarded as reflecting surfaces, such as a dull black, soft rubber surface, become reflecting to a sufiicient degree under intense illumination. The expressions angle of incidence and angle of reflection as used in this specification are to be understood as denoting the angles the incident and the reflected light beams, respectively, include with the surface of the specimen.

When thus viewed under illumination thrown upon the specimen at a small angle of incidence by an observer whose eye is located in the reflected beam, the light which is reflected from the surface lying beyond the indenting tool will sharply illuminate the outline of the indenting tool edges. The shadow cast upon the specimen by the indenting tool will also be visible. This shadow will have a dark portion, the umbra, and a confused outer fringe, the penumbra. But as the shadow converges toward the point of indentation, the penumbra disappears and there is a perfectly sharp shadow. This umbra and the indenter is leftlin' the indentation and the: intersecting outline of that portionof the tipofthe tool which extends out of the surface and the shadow is observed.

It is a further object of the invention-to-=pro-.- vide a hardness testing machine wherein during the reading period the indentingtool is lef-t in-the 1v indentation and the intersecting-outline of that portion of the tip of said tool which extends out of the indented surface and'of the shadow there? of cast upon this surface is observed.

A further object of the invention is the Incas uring of the enlarged reflected image by a movable scale requiring only a singlereadin'g to 'give the hardness number."

A further object of theinverition is' thespro vision of a hardness testing method, Wherein an indentation of elongated shape}: preferably: of lenti'cular shape, is produced in the specimen and the tool producing that indentat-ion isretained therein during the reading; which is ca'rried out under light directed :o'ntc th'e inden-ted surf ace :of the specimen an'd reflected therefromxunder: a small acute angle of I incidence an'di reflection; respectively.

A- still further object of th'e inventionis' tea -pro;- vide a method of testing'th'e hardness of especimen by notingv theiamount :of "movement. of a pore tion'of an optical system' required to bring; the images of two points of thexindenta'tiorr. into; a fi'ited relationship"; In: a preferred form v of: the invention the :light raysfireflectedfromrthe spiecir men atth'e two en'dsi-of :the'indentati'on are dee viatedr until the two light -rays-w coincide orra screen The hardness-is determined by noting the move'mentofxa portion of the. optical system that is required to achieve'this coincidence of the two rays on the screen.

Another object. of the invention-is to increase the accuracy of the readings of the -hardnessof a specimen determine'dby an indentingtool by substituting for themeasurement: of.- the.'micro- .scopically small dimension of the indentation the position of an element ofan opticalisystemerelae tive to a long, readily'observed. scale.

A further objectofthe invention is to: provide anapparatus'in whichilight rays from'two-parts ofv an object can be deviated to coincide 011a screen by a portion. of'theoptical-system, which portion of theoptical system isdisplaceable. into a position outside. of the path .ofthoseraysif..it is i desired to observe the actual. imageof. the-indentation onthe-screen.

Still a further object of ltheinventionis toiprovide a hardness testing device wherein.the.indentingtool and at leastthoseoptical elements which serve as iocus'sin g..means. are. so arranged and coordinated that the latter will.maintain.a

fixed relationship to the. tooli irrespective. of movements. required of the. tool forenabling the insertion or the removalof'the.specimenandthe application of. the indenting toollltothespecimen.

Qther objects and. advantages of the. invention will appear as the description proceeds, referencebeing had to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1' is a diagrammatic side elevation, partly [in section, of a hardness" testing. machine e'm- 'body'ing' one form of theinvention Fig. 2 is a front view at a larger scale of a graduated projecting screen as used in the device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows in a side view an indenting tool or penetrator;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the impression made in thefispecim'en' by the pen'etraton"shownrin: Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 sl-iows in -a vertical seetiom a modification of the optical equipment and indicating means of f the machine;

Figs 6-is a section along the line 6-6 in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 illustrates diagrammatically a beam of lightas:deliyeredibyja projecting lens, whereas F igsi -8= and 9 indicate the deviation to which the *rays'of such a beam of light become subjected Whenpassing; through a double prism, Figs. 8 and 9 showing two different positions of this prism, resulting in two different degrees of distortion of the beam.

Referring:firstto-Figs. 1-4,. I denotes generally the: framework of. a. hardness testing..- machine having; an indenting .t color- .penctrator. H =.carr,ie,d by';a.-rod 25. The-indentingtool-l Iv isoftapercd shape.- andv. preferably: either. of; the; diamond shaped. Knoo-p typaor, .as;shcwn,.o-fi. the.,.type-d e.. scribed. in my cospending application-Serial. No. 579,857. The indenting tool shown has a. single cutting edge I 2 formed-by: theintersection of .two co-axial conesl3 and. I4.) Theshape of..the.cut-. ting-,edge tlisthatwf. anmarcotaicircle. Ifa penetrator of the. double. conical; shape just def scribedis. used; this penetrator... when forced against .the. specimen. I under. the testjlload. supplied byv weights I 6;, 1-1} .and' I8; cooperating, with the conventional.( hydraulic,v mechanism (not shown); an impression or. indentation I;9.of.' the lenticular. shape showninFiy, 4iwilljb'e produced in-the specimenl5. This.lenticularindentation is rbisected'lby, the. li-nelfcreatdlby. the cutting edge t2; 'Il'iesid'e Walls 2-l andTZZLQftHeindentation is are. curved surfaces?corresponding. to smalli'portions. of the conical surfaces v I 3 and It of the penetraton Ateachofl the two-ends 2'3. and 24 of. they lentioular figure l9; theisides of. the

" latter and theli ne ljoin in'a' single point. The

distancebetween the points. 23andi; 24* may be used, as an indication of the hardness'of theparr ticular specimen tested;

Se'curedtotthe rod2'5'is a double; bracket-.16 whose two arms ZT'and 2 8extend from;the rod in opposite directions; Thearm 21' carries an illuminating system consisting of "a lamp 29,. a reflector and a condensing lens 3!. The other arm. 28' carries a holder: 32 fora projecting lens 33? and a projectionsurface 34; e': g., a ground glass screen; Whiliathetscreen' 3.4' couldbe ar ranged perpendicul'arlyto the optical axis'ofzthe projecting lens" 33at' a' desired point ofsaid axis, it'will. ingeneral, be more convenient for easy observation to. place the projectionsurfacetfl out.-

sideoftthe optical. axi'soiltha projection lens. 33.

theincid'ent light? In ordertb" obtain maximum reflection of light from the surface IS, the angle at which the incident rays impinge upon that surface should be chosen as small as practicable. I have found that if the angle of incidence is chosen not larger than the major part of the incident light is reflected into the projecting lens 33 and the image cast by that lens is sumciently bright and contrasting for eye comfort and accurate reading no matter whether the surface I5 is a very dull one, such as the surface of a piece of black soft rubber or so light-pervious as the surface of a piece of transparent plastic.

The surface N5 of the specimen 5 is illuminated by means of the illuminating system 29, 30, 3| to a high degree of brightness and in a preferred form of the invention the observation of the indentation is made While the indenting tool rests in the indentation I3. In this case there are visible on the screen 34 an inverted, enlarged image 3'! (Fig. 2) of the unilluminated side of that part of the tip of the tool [I which extends out of the indentation, and an enlarged, inverted image 38 of the shadow cast on the surface l5 by the same portion of the tip of the tool Both these images appear dark against the background of light reflected from the surface l5 into the projection lens 33. If the indenting tool is tapered, as is the case with all the types of indenters mentioned at the beginning of this specification. the outlines 39 and of the images 31 and 38 will intersect in two points 4| and 42. As the indenter shown in Figs. 1 and 3 has a cutting edge l2 of circular shape, the outlines 39 and 40 of the images 31 and 38 are correspondingly curved. The points 4| and 42 in whch the two curves 39 and 4B intersect and which correspond to the points 23 and 24 to which the curved indenter edge I2 has penetrated the specimen, are well defined and easily observable on the projection surface 34. This holds true in spite of the fact that the shadow produced on the surface I5 is composed of two zones of markedly unequal density: the uniformly dark umbra H where no rays of light impinge upon the surface l5', and the penumbra 12 where diverging rays of light passing the indenter edge strike the surface l5, said penumbra growing the wider and the more diffuse the farther away from the surface IS the particular point of the indenter edge casting the shadow is. On the other hand, the smaller the distance between a point of the indenter edge and the surface I5 is. the narrower wi l be the penumbra for that point. For the points 23, 24, this distance is zero and the light striking the indenter edge at these points has no spread at all, that is to say, there is no penumbra at all. Thus, the shadow at the points 23, 24 is perfectly sharp and in consequence thereof. perfectly sharp images 4|, 42 of the points 23, 24 can be obtained on the screen 34.

The distance between the two points 4| and 42 is proportional to the distance between the points 23 and 24 and is therefore indicative of the depth the indenting tool has penetrated the specimen and, thus, of the hardness of said specimen. Depending on the optical system used for the projection, and the adjustment thereof, the ratio between the distances 4 |--42 and 23-24 may be made larger or smaller and there is no difficulty in providing for an image on the projection surface 34 enlarged enough to enable easy reading of the distance to be measured.

To permit direct reading of the distance 4| 42 in desired units, the projection surface 34 is provided with a scale 43 whose divisions are of sufficient size for easy reading. The scale 43 may be movable in its own plane with, or relative to, the screen 34. If the scale 43 is moved so that the zero mark 44 of the scale coincides with the position of the point 4|, then the division of the scale coinciding with the point 42 will denote directly the distance between the points 4| and 42. Since this distance corresponds directly to the hardness number, the scale may be marked in terms of such hardness numbers.

If desired, the device illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 may be used for illuminating and observing the indentation made in the specimen after the indenting tool has been withdrawn from the specimen. In this case, the connection between the indenter and the optical system may be such that the indenter can be moved relative to the optical system. On removing the indenting tool from the impression, while the optical system remains focussed on said impression, there will be some distortion of this impression in the direction perpendicular to the line 23 (Fig. 4), but since there is no distortion as far as the position and the distance of the points 23, 24 is concerned, where the curved surfaces of the indentation and the edge 2!] meet, measuring of the distance 2324 will give a correct indication of the hardness of the material to be tested. An inconvenience of this method, is, however, that the image of the lenticular indentation I9 visible on the screen 34 will be fore-shortened in the transverse direction of the lenticular impression to such an extent that the images 4| and 42 of the end points 23 and 24 of the impression will not be easily observed with precision. This difficutly is avoided if the indenting tool is left in the indentation while readings are being taken. Each end 4| and 42 of the dimension to be observed is then at the intersection of the sharply focussed images 39 and 40 of the curved indenter edge [2 and the equally curved shadow thereof on the surface l5'. The curves 33 and 4|! meet at comparatively large angles, so that the observation of the points 4| and 42 does not entail any difficulty. The central area 31, 33 of the image visible on the screen 34 is quite dark whereas to either side of the V-shaped contour lines of that central area there is a brightly illuminated area perrritting very accurate readings of the points 4|, The optical system may either be fixedly mounted on the indenter rod 25 so as to participate in any movements of the latter or the mounting of the optical system may be such that the system can be lifted and lowered relative to the rod 25 in a manner suitable to permit readings while the indenter is in the indentation produced in the specimen. For example, the construction may be such that the innermost portion of the bracket 26 is in the form of a sleeve which slideably surrounds the rod 25 and in its lowered position rests upon a collar 25' of the rod 25. Whether the optical system is fixed or slideably mounted on the rod 25, there is no need for re-focussing the optical system for each successive specimen. When the system has once been focussed for obtaining a sharp image of the indenter edge on the projection surface 34, this adjustment may be maintained for an indefinite number of tests despite the fact that the indenter has to be moved from an inactive raised position down into the specimen during each test and then up again for the removal of the specimen just tested and the insertion of a new ridfifimjovableopticlallineans 45 ht'f a'ys re n:

.7 t qri i .n the path oi the hgh t'rays .mSSing from Q4 a e 7 ind iqates a beam of light as pr oduced by thep'iojeti "g lens 33; "vv'ithtiiit the interposition ays 5 3 'aiic1 51; coming from v v,

the two en be" the ind t fit 2524 an'bbject, wihih ma on IQ'fw ill cast on the projection eachothe'r. With the'prisin 4i11terbosed inth'e path'oj the light beam, each halfof the prism 45' 5 produces 'a' "small; constant angular deviation of'the light rays traversing it toward. thegmid iine'of -the light" beam, and two overlappin'g images are s'een'onthe' screen 3;. The li'ght from theTeft-endZE-of t e indentation going through the half 45" ofthe prism 4-5 forms an image 55 on the screendisblacedto the left. Similarly, the light: from the right end 24 ofthe indentation going throug lithe leftih'alf 45sof'1the" prism 435 forms another. image 56' on the screendis placed to the right. As a consequence of this deviation of the two halvesof the light beam the images-41, 42- of. the two. end 'p0ints'23, 24 of the indentation appear on the screen 34 at the reduced distance I). By moving theprism 45 from the position shownfin Fig. '8' upwardly or downwardiy, the distance b can. be increased or reduced, respectively, to a'desired'value. In par-.- ticular, this distance can be. reduced to zero, by moving the, prism 45 so far down that the two images 4|, 4? coincide as shown in Fig. 9.

The distance the, prism 45 W01l1dhave to be moved from the position inwhich it does not affeet; the distance a. between the images 4| and @2- on the screen, 34, whichbosition would be in the plane oflthe screen 3 4}, tontheposition shown inl Fig QQ inwhich'thesetwo'images il; 42 coin ci de is proportional to said"'distano alfitself. Sinc e this distances is proportional to the dimension o'ffthe indentationftoibje measured; the disblacement or thefprism fromthe initial posi-- tion mentioned 'to the positionlin which it brings thpointsfil, amtseomsamm can be used as o ith'e ohos endi' ensionof thefinden-l p o ct on s een 9,.

reflected' frdm the h W e 9 ettl if' t t he q jii this xi ml e e ri delq a tree efsieiiii fin i e' i we? hi t. he Pe i i n .011 he litditihit .o

' int'ga boi'tion t9 "of"re d iced thickness arouse;

whioh portion the prism carrier it with the'fir'isfn' 4 ,5;m, 1y1be tu r difito the; on sl'igownl in'Figf 5; in netted lines aftei itheipr 1;; has been moved along,"tlrie' rod 6'1! initothepdrtion 58. "To perm t;

' thelt irnling of the sn'sm carrier is with the-tr m 4 5:o1it of thelcasingf 32 into the dotted position; this casing has a slot 60 corresi o'ond'ingfin height? more or less witn 'th' fegtcea portidn seer the rod 61. "While the prism carrier 46 may bemounted on a rod 51 as l'in'dicated"inFigT6f and maybe ines lQrig this a bybp ttmgwe by means of the pointer ti b'ylhaindfin the preierred'a'r j rang' ement show'ninFi'sl'S 6" theh' 'rism byrneans (if: a snitab e tgefism' sion.""Fo'1 in"-" ieve?! he eide e be t h e d the part of the prism carrier whichstirrdii' ds the rp q s mq e; it the farmer 'ahutbbdg'ftti'fi with the sorew threadfbn' therod 61'? Ifthf primqoarrierlt is: g"1' i"i :1ed" bfthe"- casing '32 to prevent; rotation s d t'hejrda s1 is: rotated y means of the bangles; in onorthe otherwise: not; the prismo'arrirlfitogether w'iththe' prisfn is isjmoved 11-15 0 dow I h''roqs1. There 1521B thread o nthfrediiced pennants of the rod' 6T5 When it isfdesiroltdbbservej'the dimension r gag diredtly e13 th serem'a, tii pr sm s is moved upwardly inthe hiann'er deseribed'to the reduced'pgr 'i'on 59 of' therea ter wherel'there is op eriing in sw et the housing 32 1332' means of the pointer 41 prism 45"ti1rrid omit of the tnof the light ravsso that the de c' will operatein the time her as thej one descr bed nnqn ej tiqri withffifi sgi n64. hiif It he it becomes desirable, lagainto use the scale; tne, ;p i 1-gi1 Ca rie n'theiprism is, swunglbaclk' into, the; ca "its 3.. and theninoved' downwardly until the images 4; 4g visible, "(in the s ree at re; h red erm ed iii a c' vfrom eacfi o h r sashimidistanee ro-f' .he. meth d-.- whi h e erm n s t e dnes ofespecimens, by, bri.n ing the points 4| an ma to coincidence lends itself harticularly well for tween the indices 51 and 58 the specimens are acceptable. I

In making a hardness reading with either the device shown in Fig. l or the device shown in Fig. 5, the specimen is is mounted under the indenter or lpenetrator l2, the standard test load is applied to the indenter, and a light beam is thrown by means of the lamp 29 and the condensing lens 3i upon the tip f the indenting tool II and the surface l5 of the specimen IS. The light beam striking the surface I5 under a small angle of incidence is reflected under a similar small angle into the projection lens 33 and passes from there to the screen 34 where it forms the images 31 and 38, these images having their points of intersection 4| and 42 either at an undistorted distance a as in Figs. 2 and 7 when the optical device of Fig. 1 is used, or coinciding in one point when the deviating device of Fig. 5 is used.

Both the scale 43 on the screen 34 and the extended scale 48 may be mounted so as to be easily replaceable by scales of difierent calibration. Between the hardness scales of all the hardness testing systems mentioned at the beginning of this specification there exists an equational relation which makes it possible ltO adapt the machine for the use of a different indentor simply by the use of a different scale. It is also possible, of course, to provide more than one scale on the same scale carrier.

I desire it to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular constructional embodiments shown and described hereinbefore but that these embodiments have been given as illustrative examples only, since it will be obvious that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a hardness testing device an indenting tool, means for applying said tool to a specimen to be tested for making an indentation therein, a light source, a condensing lens having its optical axis extending at an acute angle towards said specimen so that the light passing from said light source through said condensing lens is reflected by said specimen at an acute angle to the latter, a projecting lens in the path of the light reflected by said specimen, a projection screen located a fixed distance from said indentation for receiving the reflected light rays after their passage through said projecting lens, optical means between said projecting lens and said screen adapted to deviate through a fixed angle and in different directions different portions of the beam of light passing through said optical means, said optical means being movable in the direction of the axis of said beam, a scale extending parallel to said axis of said beam, and an indicator connected to said movable optical means and slideable along said scale.

2. In a hardness testing device an indenting tool, means for applying said tool to a specimen to be tested for making an indentation therein, a light source, a condensing lens having its optical axis extending at an acute angle towards said specimen so that the light passing from said light source through said condensing lens is reflected by said specimen at an acute angle to the latter, a projecting lens in the path of the light reflected by said specimen, a projection screen located a fixed distance from said indentation for receiving the reflected light rays after their passage through said projecting lens, op-

iii)

tical means between said projecting lens and said screen adapted to deviate through a fixed angle and in different directions diiierent portions of the beam of light passing through said optical means, said optical means being movable in the direction of the axis of said beam, and two indices adjustably mounted on said projection screen so as to delimit a tolerance range of hardness.

3. In a hardness testing device an indenting tool,'means for applying said tool to a specimen to be tested for making an indentation therein, a light source, a condensing lens having its optical axis extending at an acute angle towards said specimen so that the light passing from said light source through said condensing lens is reflected by said specimen at an acute angle to the latter, a projecting lens in the path of the light reflected by said specimen, a projection screen located a fixed distance from said indentation for receiving the reflected light rays after their passage through said projecting lens, a scale on said projection screen, optical means between said projecting lens and said screen adapted to deviate through a fixed angle and in different directions different portions of the beam of light passing through said optical means, said optical means being movable in the direction of the axis of said beam, a scale extending parallel to said axis of said beam, an indicator connected to said movable optical means and slideable along said scale, and two indices adjustably mounted on said first named scale on said projection screen so as to delimit a tolerance range of hardness.

4. In a device for measuring the hardness of a specimen by the projection of a distance across the indentation, in combination, a frame adapted to support a specimen, a Weighted indentor bearing against the specimen, a light source projecting a beam of light at an acute angle onto the specimen around the indentor, a tube containing a lens through which the beam reflected by the specimen passes, a screen at a fixed distance from the indentation on which is cast an image of the distance across the indentor at the surface of the specimen, a slide movable in the tube, prisms rigidly mounted on the slide and adapted to displace in opposite directions the ends of the image on the screen, coacting pointer and scale carried by slide and tube respectively.

5 In a device for measuring the hardness of a specimen by the projection of a distance across the indentation, in combination, a frame adapted to support a specimen, a weighted indentor bearing against the specimen, a light source projecting a beam of light at an acute angle onto the specimen around the indentor, a tube containing a lens through which the beam reflected by the specimen passes, a screen at :a fixed distance from the indentation on which is cast an image of the distance across the indentor at the surface of the specimen, a slide movable in the tube, prisms rigidly mounted on the slide and adapted to displace in opposite directions the ends of the image on the screen, coacting pointer and scale carried by slide and tube respectively, means permitting moving the slide laterally out of the light beam when the slide has been moved along the tube carrying the pointer beyond the effective scale range.

CARLETON V. KENT.

(References on following page) 

